I was wondering does anyone else experience this. When I eat protein, exercise, drink my fluids, I feel great. Then when I begin to add carbs to my eating I get the URGE to binge, eat junk funk and I feel very tired. I know I have hypothyrodism and take medication, but could this just be how my body reacts to carbs?
Forums » Health & Wellness » Nutrition
Carb Fatigue....
(7 posts)-
Posted 4 months ago #
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That's a good question... I would ask your doctor what they think... but what little I know about nutrition and digestion, it seems very reasonable that carbs could cause this reaction in someone. It sounds plausible... but I'm no expert.
Posted 4 months ago # -
I was in a bit of a sugar binge, a while back. I felt lousy. Moody, cranky and no energy. My friend told me about this book called 'Potatoes Not Prozac'. It talked about the effect sugar has on your brain chemistry. Some people are sugar sensitive. It was so inetersting. I had no idea how things worked up there. The soulution, in short, is to cut out simple sugars and caffiene, and to eat protien with everymeal along with a complex carbohydrate. It only took about a week to start feeling the difference. They also tell you to eat a potatoe before bed, which I couldn't stomach, so I don't do that. But, the rest seemed to be enough to turn things around for me Thank God. You can google the title of the book for more info.
Posted 4 months ago # -
I too notice that when I eat carbs [without protein] I get in the "binge" mode. I love carbs, but they are sometimes my enemy....I start and can not stop. I try to eat more natural carbs [fresh fruits and vegetables] and less processed carbs. The more carbs I eat, the more tired I become. Again, by adding in protein it really does seem to make a difference.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Florida Running & Triathlon's May/June 2008 magazine had an interesting article "Endurance Athletes and Brain Chemistry" by William Russ Scala, M.A., the founder of the Institute of Nutritional Medicine and Cardiovascular Research. The article is fairly complex, but one of the primary points is that endurance athletes often have physically taxed bodies, low resting heart rates, and low body fat. To maintain itself, the athlete's body needs protein from which it can extract amino acids and choline from essential fats. If the athlete is craving a high carbohydrate diet, he/she may not be getting enough amino acids (i.e., protein) to meet basic metabolic needs. In essence, the carve craving stems from a protein deficit. The body will then rob muscle tissue in order to obtain these amino acids. If this continues for several months, the brain's neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, and GABA) will become unbalanced and this can result in the athlete feeling bad physically, insomnia, mood swings, and depression. The solution, however, lies in dietary adjustments, not in medication. The author suggests consulting a physician who is trained in the complex physiology of endurance athletes for assistance, which is probably even more important for you since you take medication for hyperthyroidism. I also think you should try keeping track of how much protein you need and take in according to your current workout regime, and see if there may be a deficit that may be causing you to crave high carbs occasionally. Good luck!
Posted 4 months ago # -
Hey guys. Thanks for this post, I have a simple sugar desire quite often. Recently (about 6 weeks ago) I stopped drinking soda's and found it pretty empowering that I didn't need them (I've tried before and felt really awful). But.. about 5 days ago I got a bad idea and bought a 12 pack of Mt. Dew... emotional purchase, I guess.
And I went off the deep end. (And thus my twitter post, brad.)
The hard thing for me to understand at times is that I'm fairly educated in the area, am aware of the emotional choices and behaviors, yet sometimes it feels like too much.
Thanks again for the post and all the resources.. I'm going to check some of them out.
Posted 4 months ago # -
I too have th eproblem of eating that sugary stuff, but only if it's within my reach! As far as carbs go, I don't know much except this...good carbs (fruits veggies, etc) are great for fueling your brain and body when you are mobile i.e. working out, running, biking, cruising around at work (like I do) whatever...but carbs after your workouts that don't get used are then turning into sugars which probably make you want MORE sugar and carbs. In short, you need some carbs I think, but you also need to pick and choose when you take in your carbs so when they are there you are using them up! Make sense? I'm not even sure, but it sounds non-medically correct...
GK
Posted 4 months ago #
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